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10/5/12

October

{ e n c h a n t }

The word
on my calendar this month is ‘enchant.’It accompanies a black and white cutout of a man harvesting bright
orange mushrooms, the only color on the page.Each month has a word with a picture like this. They are not all self-explanatory
but, in my way of thinking, they follow a theme: how we interact with the
earth.They are words like summon,
inherit, permit, free, steady, depend, foster, purpose.The
calendar ends with the phrase ‘we are starlight’ in December, with people
sitting around a bonfire watching the sparks fly up into the sky and meet the
stars.It reminds me of home.

To me,
‘enchant’ signifies the mystery of living on a planet that has the ability to
sustain us physically.It is a
celebration of harvest.

Earlier
this week, a Norwegian woman brought dinner to my home in a white wicker basket
by train.She told me, “I’m going to
cook and bring it to your house on Tuesday, is that alright?”Which is a wonderful and rare thing to be
asked, don’t you think?I was floored by
what she brought:

She kept pulling things out of
the basket like a magic act for a very surprised and honored audience, and
then said, by way of explanation, "What? It was meant to be a feast.”While we ate, she told stories about harvesting from her garden,
about keeping livestock, trading ham for honey, and learning the art of
bee-keeping.The way she spoke of
interacting with nature reminded me of my calendar, and the beautiful,
under-appreciated gift we have to grow, harvest, sustain.

We were joined by a man from
Indonesia with a British accent, who I had only just met, and we discussed
making this a regular thing – cooking and telling stories, just because - why
not?

Lately (since I moved into my
third-story walk-up, away from the mountains no less), I’ve been feeling the
urge to plant.I like the idea of going
out into a garden and collecting my own vegetables and herbs.The weekly Farmer’s Market will have to
suffice until we have property again.Either which way, cultivation happens.

Speaking of the mountains, I
have plane tickets home!November 21st
through January 1st.Roughly
seven weeks and then stateside again.Isaac has already started packing.When I told him this month was his birthday month, and next month was
home, he said, “FOR ME?!Thank you,
mama!”He’s so polite.

wow, that sounds like a very interesting feast! i love how the variety of food differs from what we eat in the US a lot of the time...so much more healthy.i also love the word enchant. would love to have a calendar like that.congrats on your ticket home. it will be here before you know it (: